Car-seal.



A. C. ROSENBROOK. GAR SEAL;

APPLIGATIGN FILED MAR. 21, 1911.

1,018,682. Patnted Feb.27,1912.

Y intensa.

AUGUST CHARLES ROSENBROOK, F WALL, SGUTI-I DAKOTA.

can-snail.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 27, 1912.

Application filed March 21, 1911. Serial No. 615,836.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUST C. RosnN- BROOK, a citizen of the UnitedStates, re-

V siding at Wall, in the county of Pennington portions and State ofSouth Dakota, have linvented new and useful Improvements in Car-Seals,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in seals of the class used onfreight cars, baggage, etc., and particularly to that type of sealswhich will indicate, upon mere inspection, whether the same has beentampered with.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple, cheap and efficienttype of seal which locks automatically, in which the lock when closed,is entirely concealed, and in which it is impossible to tamper with thelock of the closed seal without visual evidence of that fact beinggiven.

rlhe invention consists of the features of construction, combination andarrangement of parts, hereinafter fully described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is aperspective view of the closed seal. Fig. 2 is a central longitudinalsection thereof. Figs. 3 and a are transverse sections on the lines 3-3and 1 -t of Fig. 2. Figs. 5 and 6 are sectional plan view s on the`lines 5-5 and 6-6 of Fig. 3. Fig. 7 is a view of the housing sleevepartially spread open. Fig. 8 is a. view of the eX- tremities of theseal.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 1 designates a blank or stripforming the body of the seal, and made of malleable tin or othersuitable material, said strip being bent into loop form to provide arms2 and 3, which, for convenience of description, will be termed upper andlower arms.

The upper arm 2 is provided with a backturned or looped extremity thaving a T shaped slot formed with a longitudinal por- Ition 5 and atransverse portion 6 at the outer end of said longitudinal portion. Thefront wall 7 of the slot portion 6 is bent or deiiected laterally beyondone face of the strip to provide a bearing shoulder, while the 8 of thestrip at the points of intersection of the portions of the slot are bentor deflected laterally beyond the other face of the strip to providebearing lips. As shown, 'the arm 2 is provided with a downbenttransverse rib or indentation 9 formed upon the upper or relatively freelimb of the looped portion thereof above the locked lower limb of saidlooped portion and arranged to overlie the latter at a point slightly inadvance of the slot portion 6 and between the same and the free edge 10of said lower limb.

The arm 3 of the strip is provided at its extremity with a T-shaped slothaving a longitudinal portion 11 and a portion l2. The outer edge orwall 13 of the slot portion 12 is bent or offset laterally beyond oneface of the strip, while the portions of the strip at the points ofintersection of the slot portions are bent or offset laterally beyondthe other face of the strip to provide bearing lips 111.

An elongated iiattened housing sleeve or tube 15 is provided to receivethe ends of the arms 2 and 3 and to interlock therewith to close theseal and conceal the lock in such manner that the lock can not betampered with for the purpose of opening the seal without giving visualevidence of such fact. This sleeve is formed of an oblong rectangularpiece of tin or other suitable material folded to form an upper wall 16and a lower wall 17, the latter being composed of the free longitudinaledges of the stripv which are arranged in substantially abuttingrelation.

The sleeve is open at each end and is provided upon the interiorthereof, adjacent its inner and outer ends, respectively with pairs ofsubstantially triangular locking wings 18 and 19, having theirlongitudinal side edges respectively diverging inwardly from theproximate ends of the sleeve. The wings are integrally joined at theirinner ends to the edges of the sections ofthe walls 17 by parallelupright flanges 18"1 and19EL and are bent laterally in an outwarddirection from said flanges so as to lie parallel with the walls 16 and17.

In assembling the parts of the seal, the

end of the arm 2 is iirst inserted into the Y in the slot 5. When theextremity is inserted to its fullest extent, the inner end wall of theslot portion 5 will abut against the outer ends of said flanges, atwhich time the shoulder 7 will pass beyond and spring downward intointerlocking engagement with the inner ends of the wings, by which thewings will be caused to lie above the inserted end of the arm 2 and tolock the same against possibility of withdrawal. After the end of thearm 2 has been inserted and locked in position, as above described, thesaid end 2 is passed from rear to front through the sleeve over thelocking wings and the strip drawn out until taut, whereby the bight orloop 4 will be formed in the arm 2, the upper portion of which loop willlie between the locked extremity of the loop and the upper wall 1G ofthe sleeve, while the bight or closed end of said loop will fully closethe `outer or rear end of the sleeve. The seal is then ready for use inthe usual manner. To close the seal, the free end of the arm 3 isinserted within the inner or front end of the sleeve between the bottomwall of said sleeve and the upper arm and forced inward until itslocking lip 13 engages the inner ends of the wings 18. In thisoperation, the lip 13 rides over the wings and the lips 14 beneath thewings, while the slot portion 11 receives the flanges 18a, the lockingoperation being the same as thatdescribed with respect to the wings 113and free end of the arm 2, the ends of the strip being thus securelylocked within the sleeve, whereby the lock is concealed in such mannerand the parts so held against release that disconnection cannot beeffected without mutilation of the seal, thus giving visual evidence ofthe fact that ithas been tampered with.

It will be observed that the rib or indentation 9 bears upon the innerends of the wings 19 and holds the upper fold or limb of the inclosedportion of the arm 2 in contact with the wall 16, and at the same timepresses the lower fold, limb or backturned portion 4L of said arm towardthe wall 17, thus spacing said folds to permit the ex tremit-y of thearm 3 to pass freely between the same. By this construction the end ofarm 3, after interlocking with the wings 18, will be snugly received inthe space between said folds of the arm 2 at a point between sets offlanges and will abut against the rib 9, whereby the parts will bereinforced and compactly held within the housing sleeve.

The arms are provided with openings 2O with embossed or raised portionswhich are adapted to register and to occupy a position close to thesleeve when the seal is closed, such openings and bosses serving asindi- Gopies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, byaddressing the cators to show whether or not the device has beentampered with, that is, a part of the seal cut away and an effort madeto hide or cover up such work. Any letters or configurations to beimposed upon the seal should have their starting point inwardly of saidopenings.

Having thus described the invention7 l claim 1. A car seal comprising ahousing sleeve having spaced pairs of lianges provided with laterallyextending tapered wings, and a strip having slotted end portions torespectively interlock with the pairs of flanges and wings.

2. A car seal comprising a. housing sleeve provided with laterallyextending tapered wings at each end thereof connected by parallelflanges with said sleeve, and a strip provided with T-slotted endportions to respectively interlock with the pairs of wings and theflanges thereof.

3. A car seal comprising a housing sleeve having at each end thereofpairs of parallel iianges provided with laterally bent triangular wings,the side edges of the respective pairs of wings converging toward theadjacent end of the sleeve, and a strip provided with T-slotted endportions to respectively interlock with the pairs of wings and thefianges thereof.

4. A car seal comprising a housing sleeve having at each end thereofpairs of parallel fianges provided with laterally bent triangular wings,the side edges of the respective pairs of wings converging toward theadj acent ends of the sleeve, and a strip provided with T-slotted endportions to respectively interlock with the pairs of wings and theflanges thereof, the walls of the cross portions of each slot beingdeflected in opposite directions to respectively ride over and under thewings in the interlocking action.

5. A car seal comprising a housing sleeve having pairs of flangesadjacent the opposite ends thereof provided with locking wings, and astrip having T-slotted end portions to respectively interlock with thepairs of wings and the flanges thereof, one end of said strip beinglooped and extending through the sleeve and having the'relatively freelimb of its looped portion provided with an offset to space it from thelocked limb thereof to form a guide for the insertion of the oppositeend of the strip.

In testimony whereof I affix my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

AUGUST CHARLES ROSENBROOK.

Vitnesses S. E. SANDERS, J. W. ELLIS.

Commissioner of -Patents,

Washington, D. C.

